Lloyd slams proposed 2-tier system, says terrible for nations who work hard to get Test status

Guyana: Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd said it would be a bad idea to have a two-tier Test system to facilitate more series between the big-three nations, saying it would be hugely detrimental for the West Indies and countries who have worked hard to get Test-match status.

The International Cricket Council, in collaboration with cricket boards of India, Australia and England, is exploring the possibility of a two-tier Test system to facilitate more series between these three nations.

The Age had reported that Jay Shah, the new ICC chairman, is set to meet Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and his England counterpart Richard Thompson later this month to discuss the finer points.

"I think it will be terrible for all those countries who work so hard to get to Test match status and now they'll be playing among themselves in the lower section," Lloyd was quoted saying in the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.

Expressing dismay over former ICC chairman Greg Barclay's suggestion that the West Indies be disbanded and play as individual countries, Lloyd said: "We (West Indies) have a great history and now you're going to tell us because of a monetary situation, (we should be disbanded)." One of the most successful captains in history, Lloyd attributed the disparity in performance between the top-three and the rest to unequal disbursement of funds by the ICC.

"You could imagine they're talking about dismantling the West Indies, that is not the way to go. The way to go is to give them (West Indies and other teams) the same amount of money so they can improve their facilities, get better systems in place so that they can improve their cricket," the 80-year-old opined.

He also criticised the World Test Championship cycle, saying it is not "well organised".

The WTC cycle covers two years but not all 12 Test-playing nations compete in it, with Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland left out, while the remaining nine teams don't all play each other in the cycle.

"It's not well organised as such because if I am in a Test team, I want to play cricket so I can qualify for that system," said Lloyd.

"They (ICC and cricket boards) should sit down and have a system where it's not only T20 cricket. People still want to watch Test cricket and until we get that right, we will all be in this system."